Topic: Incontinence

Many otherwise healthy, active people suffer from incontinence or loss of bowel control. Incontinence is a long-term, stressful, and limiting disorder. An effective treatment and management plan for incontinence minimizes episodes and allows individuals to regain a sense of personal control. Treatments are tailored to address each person’s specific symptoms and may include a number of approaches.

Hirschsprung’s disease is a rare illness that people are born with (congenital). It occurs annually in about 1 in 5,000 live births. In Hirschsprung’s disease there is a lack of nerve cells (ganglion cells) in segments of the intestinal tract located in the colon and/or rectum.

The treatment is surgery to remove the abnormal bowel segment and restore bowel continuity. Following surgical treatment, most children have a good outcome, but some have persistent bowel problems such as constipation, soiling, fecal incontinence, and inflammation in the colon (enterocolitis). These symptoms can impact the quality of life, which also needs to be addressed.